Yesterday I talked about how we got into this mess of skyrocketing foreclosures, out-of-control home prices and everything comprising the "real estate bubble." I mentioned Alan Greenspan who nearly single-handedly ran the United States by controlling our purse strings. Tim Iacono (Iacono  Research) runs a blog called "The Mess That Greenspan Made - How 18 Years of Easy Money Have Changed the World." In it he lists his version of the "Bernanke Cycle," a familiar treadmill (or should I say "step machine"?) of financial ups and downs itemized in a cause-and-effect manner.  Reader contributions to the list add to the stimulation of Iacono's commentary.

Regardless of the boon and bane of a buffeting market, we the people have to keep our own financial ships aright. I don't talk about paying off your home because I think it's the only sane thing to do. Though my bias is clearly in favor of paying for your stuff, a habit as disdained in the early 21st century as it was esteemed in the early 20th.

Ben Bernanke is a baby boomer, a poster boy for "having it all." When Americans today want to have it all, we literally mean everything we want, and we want it right now. When was the last time you heard a family talk about saving years to have a large down payment to buy a home? Why should they with so many lenders eager to offer 100% financing, and in some cases 120% so they walk away with enough money in their pockets to remodel or fill their hocked estate with new furniture?

Every article, news report and conversation about the “mortgage mess” needs to include a nod toward the greed not only of investors who wanted the funds padded with real-estate backed securities, but also the insatiability of ordinary citizens wanting a home to call their own whether or not they could afford it.